Mail-bag catcher.



s. c. HOVEY MAIL BAG 'UATOHER. APPLICATION FILED AUG. 12, 1908.

Patented May 11, 1909.

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SAMUEL c. HOVEY, oF'BosTon, MASSACHUSETTS.-

MAIL-B.AG CATCHER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 11, 1909.

Application filed August 12, 1908. Serial No. 448,237.

To all whom it may concern:-

Be it known that I, SAMUEL O. HOVEY, a citizen of the United States, residin at Boston, Massachusetts, have 'invente certain new and useful Improvements in Mail-Bag Catchers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to that classof devices employed in the catching of mail bags, or ouches'of a similar nature, and particu lar y to a bag catcher for a mail car.

In the picking up of mail bags by a movin train, it is essential that the act be performe in a certain and positive manner, as any failure to catch and secure the bag not only means loss of time, but incurs the risk of damage to the pouch, as it is almost certain to drop and be drawn under the wheels and be out to pieces. It is, therefore, of great importance that the means for catching the bag be so arranged as to make the delivery into the car certain, and at thesame time there must be preserved strength to meet the shock of contact with a heavy pouch, safety in the positioning of the arm when not in operation, and ease in bringin it to position to do its work. To this end, therefore, I have devised my present invention, which consists in so formmg a catching arm that it will deliver the bag entirely within the car, and in so arranging it that the bag cannot wrapL or foul the parts after being struck, and at t e same time be capable of ready and facile adjustment and operation. All this I will more fully set forth in the specification which follows, and I will illustrate the same by an embodiment therein described and illustrated in the drawings.

Throughout specification and drawings like reference numerals indicate corresponding parts and in the drawings; Figure 1 is a side view of my catcher applied to a car doorway, and Fig. 2 is a plain view in section of my catcher turned up into operative position in the car doorway.

1 is a car having the usual side door 2. At one side .of the door 2, at a suitable height, bearings 8 are arranged on whichis carried the rod 7 supporting the catcher arm 3. This arm3-is transversely disposed to the rod 7 and is rearwardly inclined, being supported on thisrod 7 by the bent portion 5, which brings the arm 3 across the line of the support 7 and its bearings.

6 is a handle for operating the device.

At its outer end the arm 3 is bent back as at 3, and 4 is a web or shelf inclosed within the inclosing lines of the arm and carried thereby.

The 0 eration of my device is therefore as follows: ith the arm 3 thrown down, as shown in Fig. 1, the door 2 may be closed, and the entire device lies bent against the car side. When abag is to be caught, the door 2 is opened and the handle 6 pulled down, thus at the same time elevating this outer end of the catcher arm 3 and dropping within the car the rear end of this said arm. When a bag is struck and doubled on itself by this impact, the shelf 4 acts both as a means to prevent the wra ping of the two ends about the arm, but aso tends to support on its upper surface the bag or pouch as it slides rearwardly and inwardly. As will be noted the arm 3 is bent back at 3 just forward of the handle 6, so that the bag is directed outwardly and allowedto clear itself from the arm and drop to the floor of the car. The bent back portion 3 although practically a continuation of and a support for the catching arm proper 3 in fact terminates the arm proper 3 and makes of the inner portion of the arm 3 practically a free end from which the bag can be delivered, as last noted. The end 3 tends to protect the web or shelf 4 to afford a strong true end while the offset arrangement of the support 5 permits the transverse disposition of the arm proper 3 and its entry at its rear end within the door of the car to deposit the bag safely therein.

The catcher is, of course, always positioned with'its arm 3 forwardly disposed on the car in whicheverdirection it be going.

Various modifications may be made in the manner of mounting the arm and the method of supporting and operating the same, all without departing from the spirit of my invention.

What I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a device of the class described a catcher having a free inner end and means for supporting said catcher with its side inclined through an aperture, the forward end of said inclined side being outside of the aperture and the rearward end of said side being inside the aperture.

2. In a device of the class described a catcher having a free inner end and means for movably supporting said catcher with its side inclined through an aperture the forward end of said inclined side being outside of the aperture and the rearward end of said side being inside the aperture.

3. A device of the class described comprising an arm, means for supporting said arm from the rear between the ends thereof in a diagonal position through an aperture, the forward end of said arm being outside of said aperture and the rear end of said arm being inside of said aperture.

4. A device of the class described comprising an arm, means adjacent to an aperture for supporting said arm between the ends thereof, said arm being movable to be positioned diagonally through said aperture with its inner end Within the same.

' 5. A device of the class described comprising a support adapted to be rotatably held parallel to the car body adjacent to a car door, an angularly disposed portion at the end of said support adapted to be projected through said doorway Within the ear, and a catching arm extending from the end of said projection diagonally across the line of said support.

' 6. In a device of the class described a catching arm adapted to strike a bag and a rearwardly extending shelf to prevent the bag from wrapping said arm.

7. In a device of the class described a bag catcher comprising a catching arm, a supporting bar for said arm, said arm being angularly disposed across the end of said sup- 2 porting bar substantially as for the purpose specified.

8. In a device of the class described a single catching arm adapted to strike and to deliver a bag within a car and means for preventing the bag from wrapping about said arm.

In testimony whereof, I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL (J. HOVEY.

Vitnesses:

IVEsToN M. HILTON, ADDISON G, AUsT1N. 

